章 32: A Throw

Chapter 32.

01. Weapons master Katherine waved her hand at the practice dummy in armour and said" Let's see what you can do." Reskeme didn't think a spear would be too hard, all he needed to do was stick the pointy end in the target. That couldn't be too hard he thought. Katherine leaned forward and threw the spear, It flew with blinding speed and stuck the dummy just under the chest piece with a loud thunk. Katherine turned to Reskeme and said," If you hit someone in the joints like just under the chest plate or in the neck area, Your javelin will penetrate the armour and will cause terrible wounds." Reskeme walked over and tried to pull out the javelin only to realize it was lodged through the leather and stuck into the wood of the pole.

02. Reskeme pulled on the weapon and couldn't make it come loose, Katherine walked over and pushed him aside before rocking the spear, levering it a few times and pulling it out with a fast tug. Reskeme thought damn showoff. Weapons master Katherine handed him the second javelin and said," your turn go back and try" Reskeme was stopping at the throwing knife line when she nudged him further back until he was twice as far. Katherine said," javelins are perfect weapons for when you are not in close quarters. That is what knives are for, If you are ever in a building or alleys knives will suit you better as they won't hit on walls or doors when you trying to throw them." she continued" Also, knives are much easier to hide from whoever you are trying to hit."

03. Reskeme doubtfully eyed the target before uncomfortably grabbing the spear, and was about to throw the terribly balanced weapon when Katherine stopped him. In a tone of disapproval, she said, "hold the center of the spear soo that when you throw the weapon fly straight." She then adjusted his grip and stepped back before crossing her arms and giving Reskeme the look. He began to nervously step forward and with a quick throw, he stepped and threw at the same time as his foot touched the ground putting all his strength behind the throw. Reskeme watched the weapon fly through the air and stick into the leather-covered leg of the practice dummy.

04. Reskeme was excited and picked up the second spear and got ready to throw it with his left hand, He had unconsciously used his left after all the knife throwing practice. Unbenownesed to Reskeme Katherine was smiling as she watched him using his left hand without realizing it. Reskeme tried to imitate his first throw but his timing was off when he stepped forward causing his throw to land short sticking into the ground. Reskeme grumbled before walking over, picking up the spear and grabbing the handle of the one in the target. He levered the weapon side to side copying The weapons master, And much to his surprise the weapon came free with a quick hard pull.

05. Reskeme Returned back to his new distance and to everyone's surprise managed to hit the target both times. Katherine gestured to him with a mischievous smile as he was returning and said," now that you have warmed up we can move to a further distance. Katherine walked back across the yard and stopped a little before the far wall. Reskeme guessed the distance was thirty steps. Reskeme looked at the practice dummy on the other side of the yard and turned to Katherine with a questioning look. She smiled and said," Well what are you waiting for an invitation, Also make sure to aim quite a bit above the target." Reskeme grumbled to himself about overconfident Trainers.

06. Reskeme held his first javelin in his right hand and the other in his left, He leaned forward and while aiming just above the top of the dummy threw the spear. The spear flew through the air and landed short almost landing on the line where he had been practicing knives. Reskeme was sheepish and blushing with embarrassment, he decided to aim a lot higher. Reskeme targeted three steps above his target and took a deep breath, He leaned forward and timed his throw with his step aiming high. The spear arced as it travelled before passing just above the dummies' head. Reskeme pumped his fist and yelled, "yes I figured it out".

07. Reskeme strolled over to the dummy and smiled at Sergent mike who was looking at him oddly as he picked up both spears. Reskeme walked back and tiredly looked at the far dummy again. He balanced the spear in his hand after Katherine cleared her throat when he was about to throw. Reskeme moved his hand on the spear and noticed it was easier to hold steady when it was balanced. He smiled to himself, this woman knew every time and would correct him whenever he made a mistake. Reskeme took a deep breath, brought his right arm back and stepped forward releasing the spear, his aim was 2 steps above the target. The spear crossed the yard in a few moments and with a clang! bounced off the metal chest plate.

08. Reskene turned to Katherine with a questioning look She said," Your throw was still too slow to penetrate plate armour. She said, " but I can say that throw would put a small hole in the metal or a nice small dent if it didn't." Katherine continued," from now on you will throw your javelins from here." while pointing at her spot at the far edge of the quart yard. Reskeme nodded his head, He Threw his left-handed spear and managed his timing better but only aimed 1 step above the target. The spear stuck beside the foot of the pole as he guessed it might.

09. Reskeme smiled and walked across the yard, he could feel his shoulders starting to protest at him throwing the spears. Each spear wasn't heavy, however, he needed to throw with all of his strength to make them travel across the yard. Reskeme picked up the spears and returned to The line, Katherine stopped him and said, "don't practice from the same position, no throws will ever be the same, always practice from different spots around the same distance." She pointed 7 steps to the side and gestured Reskeme to walk over. Reskeme walked across the sand and stood in his new spot, He was wondering why in the hell he needed to change spots but stay the same distance when he realized he was looking at the dummy and it seemed much smaller.

10. Katherine said," angles change and it's difficult to target if you are not practiced." Reskeme took in a deep breath if he didn't know better he would have said he was much further than his other throws. Reskeme threw with his left first as he already felt the weapon in that hand was better balanced. Reskeme aimed two steps above the head of the dummy and timed his step with his arm as he threw. Reskeme watched the spear fly and miss the target by only a step, Reskeme thought he had hit but the smaller target made his throw miss. Katherine remained silent and watched, As Reskeme got ready and threw with his right arm.

11. Katherine was extremely pleased with the boys' progress, his control with throwing weapons was on another level. She was most surprised at how well he followed her advice, She always had trouble with training new people as they tended to ignore most of her advice and would learn much slower. This boy wasn't the fittest or talented she had ever trained, But he was the best mechanically speaking. She had trained many people who could throw much harder and more accurately but she could tell the boys analysis and calculations for each throw were undoubtedly the best she had seen from a new trainee.

12. Katherine decided to find a way to get this young trainee some javelins as she really wanted to see what level of skill he could get to with proper weapons. She Refused to let someone of such potential not cultivate a skill, She was disgusted that the training weapons were so bad but couldn't do much about it as the lord Harish didn't give her much funding. Reskeme collected his spears and walked back to the throwing line near the wall only this time on the other side of Katherine. He decided her advice should be followed and therefore he changed his spot to 5 steps on her other side. Reskeme eyed his target from the other side and practiced his timing, he wanted to make sure he was throwing properly, He thought that would be better than focusing on a proper throw before he figured out his aim.

13. Each time he threw Katherine would tell him what he did wrong and how to fix it. Reskeme focused on his step properly, he would adjust his aim based on where he missed. Reskeme also focused on his balance after he threw, Katherine had said," Follow thru is important it helps you get to a better level of consistency." She continued" Make sure to end on the same follow through as the same follow-through generally means the spear is going to fly the same." Reskemes head was spinning at all of her information, He kept going through the long list in his head trying to make sure he was following all of them.

14. Reskeme threw the spears for 10 more minutes and decided he was making a little progress. Sergent Mike had gone somewhere after talking with Katherine, Reskemes arms were tired and he stopped for a break, He asked Katherine" Why can't we use a knife from back here," she said," The knives are much to light and would be extremely difficult to hit anything from this sort of distance." She continued, "The knives being soo light, Throwing knives are unreliable after a certain distance as it is extremely difficult to judge the spin." Reskeme pulled out a knife testing its weight, He threw the knife as hard as he could aiming 2 steps above the target, the knife flew end over end but for some reason, it didn't make it to the target, the knife started to fly awkwardly after 15 steps and didn't even come close to hitting his target.

15. Reskeme realized if he ever wanted to hit anything far away he couldn't use his knives, They clearly were not a long-ranged weapon. Reskeme then picked up his spear and threw it exactly the same, he watched as the weapon crossed twice the distance and struck the dummy. Reskeme threw his other spear and watched as it missed the target to the left side, He smiled as he realized his missed to that side because he hadn't done his follow thru properly.

16. Katherine said," alright that's enough for today, bring me the spears and don't forget to be here in the morning. My old friend was interested to meet you and wanted to visit tomorrow morning." She glared at him intently, before a smile crossed her face."She said, "By the way, he is much more creative than I am when it comes to fun ways of punishing students who are late, so do be here when the sun rises," Katherine had a sweet smile on her face. Reskeme really wished at that moment he had a way of waking himself up on time, He was sure he wouldn't sleep well. Reskeme left the training yard, One guard asked," Was it the tight rope and running with spears or did you half to do the balance log."

17. The other guard said," I hate the balance log, I think it's way worse than the pole or the tightrope, With disgust, the guard said, "at least they don't move." Reskeme said," What's the balance log?" both guards looked at him before looking at each other and laughing. The first guard said," We couldn't deprive you of the opportunity to find out for yourself." Reskeme glared at the guards, both men were clearly having fun at his own anxiety. He sighed, it was just another thing that would keep him up at night. Reskeme headed towards the messengers guild and hopefully a boring day at work.